The Calabasas City Council adopted Resolution No. 2013-1379 urging businesses in Calabasas to no longer sell or use anticoagulant rodenticides, urging all property owners to cease purchasing or using anticoagulant rodenticides on their properties in Calabasas and committing the City of Calabasas to not use anticoagulant rodenticides as part of its maintenance program for city-owned parks and facilities.

Throughout California, the use of poison baits, or anticoagulant rodenticides, to control rodents has injured and killed numerous wild animals and pets. This is because predatory and scavenging birds and mammals like owls, hawks, raccoons, foxes, skunks and coyotes eat dead or dying rodents that have consumed these baits and will, therefor, also be poisoned. Pets may also eat infected dead or dying rodents and unprotected bait and become poisoned.

You can protect both pets and wildlife by reading – and following – the label directions of any rodent baits you purchase and only purchasing those that are legal for the pest you are trying to control. Non-chemical means of rodent control, such as exclusion and sanitation, should be used when possible to prevent rodenticide exposure to non-target wildlife and pets. Because of documented hazards to wildlife, pets, and children, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of canceling products that do not comply with safety requirements (see www.epa.gov/pesticides/mice-and-rats).

Protect your wild neighbors and pets from accidental poisoning. Use all pesticides very carefully and follow all label directions, or instead, choose non-chemical pest control methods.

Q. How do rodent baits harm wildlife and pets?

A. It's possible for wildlife and pets to consume the poison directly. However, it's more common for some animals to be affected by a secondary exposure. A secondary exposure occurs when wildlife or pets consume dead or dying rodents that have eaten the poisons. Wildlife that can be affected by secondary poisoning include owls, hawks, eagles and mammals such as raccoons, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions and coyotes.

Q. How can I protect wildlife and pets, but still control rodent pests?

A. The most effective and safest ways to address rodent issues are through exclusion and sanitation. For example, seal off entrances to your home, remove debris from your yard, and make pet food inaccessible to rodents. Traps can also be effective in removing rodent pests. If you use rodent bait, it is important to follow label directions carefully. Rodent baits with the active ingredients brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difethialone, and difenacoum are very toxic and persistent and have been found widely in non-target wildlife due to secondary consumption.

• Read product labels carefully before using any pesticide, and follow directions exactly. Check for the harmful active ingredients mentioned above.

• Check daily for dead rodents. Wearing gloves, collect the carcasses as soon as possible, place in plastic bags and dispose in garbage cans with tight lids that other animals can't open. Always wear protective gloves when handling any dead animal.

Q. What kind of rodenticides should I NOT use in the yard, away from buildings?

A. You should not use over-the-counter rodenticides, such as d-Con®, that contain the active ingredients brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum or difethialone. These can only be legally used to control rats and house mice in and around structures. It is illegal to use these products in open areas such as pastures or fields. Products containing bromethalin and cholecalciferol may also not be used for field rodent control.

Q. Why is brodifacoum so dangerous for wildlife and pets?

A. Brodifacoum, bromodialone, difenacoum and difethialone are toxic to rodents in a single feeding. However, the rodent will not die until several days after feeding and may continue to ingest more poison. The poison is then available to a predator or scavenger that eats the rodent within those several days of intoxication. If the exposed rodent does not die, the poison can persist in its body for several months and can therefor be exposed to wildlife and pets for those several months.